Mozambique's parliament has approved a bill that allows volunteer former combatants called “local forces” to take part in anti-jihadist fighting.
The bill was presented to parliament by the African country’s Defense Minister Cristovao Chume, who stated that the Mozambican Army needed help “in combating and containing the spread of jihadist incursions."
According to the minister, volunteers will safeguard community settlements, as well as public and private infrastructure.
Since 2017, Mozambique has been subjected to terrorist attacks conducted by the Al-Shabaab* terrorist group -which has no relation to the Somali group of the same name. During the last five years, terrorist attacks in the African country claimed the lives of over 3,000 people and have resulted in the displacement of some 800,000 Mozambicans, as well as leaving more than one million in desperate need of food aid. Moreover, security issues led to the closure and freezing of several national and international gas projects in the region.
However, the country's security situation only gained international attention in 2020 when Mozambique’s Al-Shabaab pledged allegiance to Daesh.
At its height, Al-Shabaab ruled much of Mozambique's northernmost Cabo Delgado province in April 2021, including the port city of Mocimboa da Praia, and raided the major city of Palma. As Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province borders Tanzania to the north, Al-Shabaab also managed to conduct cross-border raids, targeting Tanzania's port of Mtwara, a major oil and gas hub.
The security situation was serious enough for Mozambique’s government, overwhelmed by International Monetary Fund’s debts, to seek outside help. Southern African Development Community (SADC) forces were deployed in the province in July 2021. With the help of SADC troops, Mozambican military forces recently reclaimed control of the northern Cabo Delgado region.
In September, Mozambique and Tanzania penned two memoranda of understanding on peace and security, as well as defense cooperation. The two countries’ defense ministers elaborated that the agreements targeted terrorist threats along their mutual border.
The first ship in nearly three years docked in the Mozambican port of Mocimboa da Praia in November as government forces succeeded in re-establishing security in the area.
*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) and Al-Shabaab are terrorist organizations outlawed in Russia and many other states